Press release

Turkey stun Russia to book semifinal spot

Turkey celebrate their shock win over Russia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday as they dumped the world champions out of the tournament

Monza, Italy, September 29, 2011 – Turkey sealed one of the biggest upsets of the Women’s European Championship on Wednesday as they sealed a straight-sets win over Russia to book themselves a place in the semifinals and send the world champions crashing out of the tournament while hosts Italy defeated the Netherlands in four sets in front of their home fans in Monza to move on to the next stage.

The eventual champions will qualify for the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup, set to take place in Japan from November 4 to 18, with the top three then moving on to the London 2012 Olympic Games. It is also expected that the eventual runners-up will also qualify, taking when the FIVB World Rankings from January 15 are taken into account.

Turkey’s 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-18) victory over Russia signals the end of a disappointing tournament for the side who failed to perform as well at both this tournament and at the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix, where they finished fourth.

Marco Aurelio Motta's team was dominant from the start as Russia failed to deal with Turkey, allowing errors in passing and defense to creep into their game.

“We don’t usually predict the outcome of the match. However, the result against Russia came by surprise,” An ecstatic Motta said. “We were preparing for a win but did not expect 3-0. Our game was principally stable; we controlled the game in all sets. Our defence and service were brilliant. On the other hand, Russia suffered, particularly in defence.”

Meanwhile, hosts Italy sealed a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 25-18) win over their Dutch rivals in a repeat of the 2009 final as they took one step closer to defending their crown. Captain Eleonora Lo Bianco was at the forefront of her side’s win, constantly putting pressure on their opponent’s spike, recording 18 block kills. Simona Gioli and Carolina Costagrande both scored 20 points for the winners while Antonella Del Core added 19 kills.

“The match was very tense, since the pressure was coming both from the inside and the outside,” Lo Bianco said. “Thus, we strove to show our best. Containing their game was not so easy but we succeeded by blocking and defending constantly.”

Thursday will see Poland and Serbia battle it out for the right to take on Turkey in the semifinal, while Germany and Czech Republic clash, with the winner meeting Italy.